Current production motor vehicles, such as the modern-day automobile, are originally equipped with a lighting system to provide interior and exterior illumination for the vehicle operator and passengers. Such lighting systems include an assortment of lamp assemblies that are mounted or otherwise integrated to the front, sides and rear of the vehicle. The purpose of these lamp assemblies is to provide exterior illumination for the driver, for example, to operate the vehicle in low-light conditions, such as nighttime driving, and to increase the conspicuity of the vehicle, such as during inclement weather. Such lighting systems can also display information about the vehicle's presence, position, size, direction of travel, as well as provide signaling functions to indicate the operator's intended maneuvering of the vehicle.
Most conventional automobiles are equipped with taillight assemblies that include directional signal lamps to convey the driver's intent to turn the vehicle, and rear brake lamps to indicate that the vehicle is slowing or stopping. Generally fitted in multiples of two, symmetrically at the left and right edges of the vehicle rear, the brake lamps are red, steady-burning lamps that are illuminated when the driver applies pressure to the brake pedal. Many automobiles are also equipped with a central brake lamp that is mounted higher than the vehicle's traditional left and right brake lamps. The central brake lamp is known as a center high-mounted stop lamp, or “CHMSL” (pronounced chim-zul). The CHMSL is intended to provide a notice of deceleration to following drivers whose view of the vehicle's regular stop lamps is blocked by interceding vehicles.
In addition to the above-mentioned taillight assemblies, current production automobiles are also equipped with front-mounted headlamps. With a similar arrangement to the rear-mounted taillights, an individual headlamp assembly is typically mounted at both the front-left and front-right corners of the vehicle. The headlamp is generally designed to provide forward illumination in two different settings: a “low-beam setting, which provides adequate forward and lateral illumination for normal driving conditions with minimized glare, and a “high-beam” setting, which provides an intense, center-weighted distribution of light that is primarily suitable for driving scenarios where on-coming drivers are not present. Most headlamps are also provided with directional signals (more commonly known as “turn signals” or colloquially as “blinkers”).
Conventional taillight and headlight assemblies require numerous internal parts, such as mounting brackets, reflectors, a set of filament-type light bulbs or light emitting diodes (LED), internal adjuster mechanisms, projector lamps and, in some cases, a printed circuit board (PCB) control unit. Some designs require a linear actuator, such as an electric stepping motor and power screw, to selectively reposition the lighting elements and/or reflectors and thereby modify the lamp assembly's working mode (e.g., generate daylight running lamp (DRL) light output, low-beam light output, high-beam light output, etc.). Traditionally, the entire lamp assembly is pre-assembled into a protective lamp housing prior to integration with the vehicle. A protective outer lens is then used to seal the housing and shield the internal lamp componentry from external debris, weather, and the like. It is also known to hermetically seal the lamp assembly to prevent the unwanted ingress of moisture and other contaminants.
The use of high-intensity, high-luminosity lighting elements within these enclosed lamp fixtures tends to generate large amounts of heat, especially during prolonged continuous use. To dissipate heat generated by the lighting elements when the lamp fixture is in operation, one or more heat sinks have been mounted inside the protective lamp housing. Current production heat sinks, however, require dedicated parts and packaging space for mounting to the lamp housing interior, which in turn increases the cost, weight and size of the lamp assembly. Many of these lamp fixture designs also require a fan be coupled to the lamp housing for convectively cooling the heat sink. In addition to increasing part and assembly costs, a supplemental cooling fan of sufficient size to cool the heat sink also requires additional packaging space within the housing, which increases the overall mass and footprint of the lamp assembly.